Unsettling changes happen to Yulka, the sixteen-year-old sister of Marfa. Trying to make sense of what’s going on, Marfa starts to watch her sister and ends up in Lopukhi — an abandoned village deep in the forests. It turns out Yulka is in serious trouble, and the only one who can save her is the gatekeeper — a wizard living as a hermit near a mysterious “string of ruins.” Finding his home isn’t easy, but even harder is obtaining the moon milk that the gatekeeper demands as payment for help.